Photograph by Shirley C. Hulse 



GATHERING EGGS E0R GOVERNMENT HATCHING 



The male fish ("bucks") are put alive in the floating box shown in the left of the picture. 

 The females ("does") are stunned by a blow on the head, after which their tails are chopped 

 off. This bleeds the fish, and, later, when they are ripped open and the eggs removed, no 

 blood appears. Should any blood get in the eggs, they would not hatch. 



support valuable fisheries, subject, to sea- 

 sonal or periodic fluctuations, such as 

 have always characterized free-swim- 

 ming oceanic fishes as far back as au- 

 thentic records go. Periods of great 

 scarcity, such as have come to the blue- 

 fish and the mackerel on the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States and to the sea 

 herring on the Atlantic coast of Europe, 

 are to be expected, just as are periods of 

 abnormal abundance, such as character- 

 ized the menhaden in 191 3 and the 

 swordfish in the western Atlantic for the 

 past few years. 



It may confidently be expected that our 

 coastal waters will continue to contribute 

 their large quota of fish, crustacean, and 

 molluscan foods, provided the attitude of 

 the various States toward their fisheries 

 is helpful. Inasmuch as many of the 

 most valuable animals inhabiting the 

 coastwise waters may be very injudi- 

 ciously affected by improper methods and 

 inadequate regulation, it follows that the 

 proper handling on the part of the States 

 will maintain the supplies or restore de- 



pleted resources. Furthermore, a very 

 marked' increase in the abundance of 

 fishes and shellfishes may result from the 

 institution of wise cultural operations 

 under State encouragement. 



In the Great Lakes and the major 

 streams the future output of fish will be 

 governed very largely by adequate, uni- 

 form, or harmonious interstate or inter- 

 national regulations. The serious decline 

 that has characterized some of the prin- 

 cipal fisheries in these waters is directly 

 attributable to the failure of the States to 

 appreciate the non-local character of the 

 fishery question ; the restoration of the 

 depleted resources and the maintenance 

 of the supply hereafter will depend on 

 the realization by the States that they 

 cannot ignore the nation-wide aspects of 

 the situation, and that they cannot legis- 

 late for themselves alone. Fish culture, 

 however effective or potent, cannot, un- 

 aided, remedy a condition that it was un- 

 able to prevent. 



It is becoming more and more evident 

 that, with the increase in population re- 



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